Helpful advice

5 problems that may occur when you rent

by RentEasy26 octomber 2015

Renting an apartment may offer a series of advantages when you decide to move in a new city, but also situations may occur, which are not clear for tenants and which pose several questions. But each problem can be easily solved if you are informed about the existing solutions. So, let’s talk about the most frequent impediments that tenants meet:

1. Repairs and maintenance

When it comes to apartment maintenance, the most often met problem for tenants is urgent malfunctions. And, when they occur, rapid action must be taken so they do not transform into a real disaster. In that moment, you will ask yourself a series of question that you have not thought of before: “Who is the right person that could remedy the malfunction?”, “What is the cost of the repairs?”, “Where do I find specialized persons that are available 24/7?”

Verdict

In such situations, the best solution is to ask for help from the Rental and Property Administration Companies that helped you rent the apartment, because they have complex data bases with different maintenance service providers. Thus, you do not have to worry anymore about how, when and how much it costs to make the necessary repairs in the apartment. If you did not rent the apartment with the help of a Rental Company, then you will have to quickly look for the phone number of a specialized person and to hope that he or she is trustworthy.

2. Warranty.

Tenants are often confused about the role of the warranty and if it can be used as last rent.

Verdict

Shortly, the answer is no. The warranty and the rent are two amounts with different goals. The warranty aims to protect the owner in case the tenant does not respect the contractual term, while the rent represent the amount paid monthly for occupying the apartment.

3. Increase of rent

The persons that do not use the services of a Rental Company risk having problems in case the owner wants to increase the rent. “Is it fair?”, “Which is the limit up to which this can increase?”, some tenants may wonder.

Verdict

If you signed a rental agreement with fixed terms through a specialized Rental Agency, the rent can never increase during its execution, only before or after signing it. On the contrary, check the concluded rental agreement at the section about the rent quantum and its modification conditions. Any kind of such conditions must be set from the beginning of the rental period. And remember to use your communication skills in the relationship with the owner, especially if he or she is a difficult person.

4. Visits and inspections

“How many times may the owner enter the apartment I rented?”, “How long before should she or he announce the visit?”. Unannounced visits or the presence of the owner in the apartment when the tenant is not at home represent a real problem that you can have when you rent.

Verdict

Either you rented by yourself or through a Rental and Property Administration Company, there are rules regarding the moments when the owner can make these visits. They establish how long in advance they must announce the visit. The advantage you have when you rent through a specialized company is that these visits are scheduled according to your availability, and the owner will be accompanied by a consultant of that company.

5. Termination of contract

The questions of the tenants regarding the termination of the rental period are frequent. Here are some of them: “How do I interrupt the contract?” or “What are my responsibilities when I terminate the contract – which is the notice period I must give and what is the amount of money I must pay?”

Verdict

Depending on the reason of the termination of the rental agreement, different rules and notices may apply. If the apartment is rented through a specialized Rental Company, then all contract termination clauses shall be set from the beginning, so that none of the parties has difficulties.